BALLSTON SPA -- For anyone convicted since Aug. 15 of driving while intoxicated, starting the car is a little more complicated than just turning the key.

In compliance with a recent New York state requirement, anyone convicted of misdemeanor or felony DWI is required to install an Ignition Interlock device in any vehicle or vehicles they own or operate.

"Even if it is a first-time offender," Saratoga County Probation Director John Adams said.

The device requires anyone driving the vehicle to blow into a receiver -- a device slightly larger than a television remote -- just as they would for a police Breathalyzer.

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If they have a blood-alcohol content higher than a certain threshold -- .05 percent in Saratoga County -- the car will not start.

In addition, a message is either transmitted or stored in the device that will alert the probation department to the violation.

"The recidivism rate is barely anything," said John Ruocco, CEO of Interceptor Ignition Interlocks. He said that in other states that have instituted this procedure, the rate of repeat DWI offenses has dropped dramatically. "That is the whole purpose of this device," he said, "to stop them from driving drunk and getting another DWI or in an accident."

Installation is about $125 for most vehicles and it costs $107.76 a month for the duration of the driver's sentence.

"DWI is the most expensive crime you can commit in New York," said Adams, who pointed out that beyond the fines, paying for the Ignition Interlock and DMV, there is also the spike in auto insurance to deal with.

There are currently 109 people in Saratoga County with the device installed in their vehicle.

"I like the public safety aspect of it," Adams said. "I don't think fines or lack of a license have deterred people from driving."

The minimum sentence for the device is six months. That is primarily for conditional discharges -- first-time offenders who receive DWAI (driving while ability impaired) charges rather than DWI, provided they comply with several conditions, one of which is installing the Ignition Interlock.

The Interceptor Ignition Interlock device is equipped with a GPS, a camera on the dashboard and instructions relayed through a speaker on the dashboard.

When a person turns the key to start a vehicle equipped with an Interceptor Ignition Interlock device, a voice starts providing them instructions.

"Deep breath blow, sit straight back," Ruocco said as he put the device to his lips and blew into it. "You may start the vehicle," the voice tells him, and the car starts normally.

The camera ensures that the driver is indeed the person submitting the breath sample.

Between five and 15 minutes later, after the driver is on the road, the device will tell him or her to provide an additional sample -- a rolling retest -- and then once an hour after that.

"It's 100 percent safe to use," Ruocco said about the rolling retest. He pointed out that his company's device is connected to the dashboard by Velcro and since instructions are all relayed aloud, there is no reason for the driver to take his or her eyes off the road to use it.

A reading will automatically send an e-mail update to the probation department or monitoring agency of any violations. For people on probation, that means any alcohol reading. For those with a conditional discharge, it is only a sample above .05 percent.

The report will include the time and date of the sample, a picture of the person providing it and a GPS location of the vehicle.

If the car is moving when the sample is given during a rolling retest, the police will have the ability to follow the vehicle on a real-time GPS map.

"It will follow it right along as it makes its turns," said Ruocco, whose company invented the technology that allows the device real-time updates.

Other companies offering the device require it to be serviced monthly and download the information then.

"This is effective, real-time or not," Adams said. "Just by the fact that it will shut the vehicle off at .05 percent."